1. Technical Field
Embodiments of the present invention are related to imaging and, in particular, to an imager that operates automatically or semi-automatically to generate an image.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Imaging technologies continue to play a large role in various evaluation techniques. Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT), for example, has evolved from an ophthalmic imaging device, which was adopted by a majority of retina specialists and major institutes over 10 years ago, to a daily clinical tool used in many ophthalmologist and optometrist offices. A majority of patients come to the office with some symptom of eye conditions that can be examined by the OCT imager. The volume of patients examined by an OCT technique has skyrocketed in recent years. On the other hand, it is common for operators in a small clinical office environment to have less experience and skill in using advanced ophthalmic imaging systems. Often the inexperience of the operators results in less effective OCT imagery and lengthy examination times, which limits the use of such instruments.
Traditional OCT design requires operators to be skillful in using a joystick for aligning the scanner optics to the patient's eye and optimizing the OCT signal strength and position before capturing an image. It often requires multiple steps to align the system and optimize the OCT signal. Such alignment and optimization requires the operator to perform multiple alignment and optimization steps in a very short time, especially before the patient is fatigued by the examination. This process often requires extensive training and relies on the experience of the operator to acquire the necessary skills.
Therefore, there is a need to develop imagers such as OCT imagers that are easy to use and require short examination times.